Combined supporting and display device for boxes



April 7, 1942. H. A. COWLES COMBINED SUPPORTING AND DISPLAY DEVICE FOR BOXES Filed Feb. 16, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 11v VENTOR Cam ES April 7, 1942. H. A. cowLizs COMBINED SUPPORTING AND DISPLAY DEVICE FOR BOXES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 16. 1939 FIG 7 llllill L l I l I l I- FIG 8 nvwszvroze HAZE A. Cam .56 BY AT RNQEY Patented Apr. 7, 1942 OFFICE v COMBINED SUPPORTING AND DISPLAY DEVICE FOR BOXES Harold A. Cowles, Rochester, N. Y. Application earthy 1c, 1939, Serial No. 256,767

6 Claims; (01. 2016-44) This invention relates to combined packing, shipping and display boxes and has for its object to provide a novel shipping container having" means provided on the side or end wall for the support and display of one of the articles shipped in the container. I

Another object of this invention is to provide a folding box blank in which display means are incorporated as an integral part in the side or end wall portion of the blank.

A further object of this invention is to provide novel supporting and display means in comb-ination with the side or end wall of a box including locking means for holding the supporting and display means in a predetermined extended position relative to the wall of the box.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a combined shipping and display container with novel supporting and display means whereby one of the articles of the box, withdrawn from the box, may be displayed in front or side thereof to give the appearancethat one of the articles has already been sold out of the container because it has been found that it takes a longer time for sales to start unless the first article is removed from the container.

Still another object of this invention is to provide 'a box with display means with which one of the articles, of the box may be separately placed at a desirable upright or angular position at the front or side of the box and heldfixed in such position to prevent its misplacement.

All these and other objects and attendant advantages of the invention will become ,more

porting and display means and front wall of the box, the section being taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1. 2

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional View of the supporting and display means, the section being taken on the line 3--3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a reduced plan view of the blank from which the box, including the article supporting and display device, is folded.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a set up box provided with my novel article supporting and display means provided at the end walls thereof.

Figure 6 is a plane view of a portion of a foldclearly apparent from the detailed description T3 supporting a display device incorporated therein.

Figure '7 is a'perspective View *of the box portion and article supporting and display device folded from the blank illustrated in Figure 6.

Figure 8 is a plane view of a portion of a folding box blank with another. modified form of the article supporting and display device incorporated therein.

,Figure' 9 is a perspective View of the box portion and article supporting and display device folded from the blank illustrated in Figure 8.

The article display device forming the subject matter of my present invention is especially adapted for use in combination with shipping boxes of the knock down foldingv or the pasted set up type so that the retailermay open the box, arrange the display device for the receipt of one of the articles at the front or side of the box and then withdraw one of the articles from the box for placement and support on the display device. In this way one of the articles is placed in an attention compelling position outside of the box while the space created in the box by the removal of the article gives the psychological effect of one of the articles having been sold, it being a well known fact that sales move much faster after the first item in the counter container has been sold.

I Any form of box structure may be used in connection with my invention and for illustrative purposes I have shown in Figures 1 to 4 inclusive a box which is folded from the single blank illustrated in Figure 4. vThis blank is cut and scored to provide the bottom section I, the double front walls 2, 2 and the rear wall 3, the end walls 4 and 5, the locking ears 6, B and l, l, the cover 8 and the cover flange 9.

The front wall portions 2, 2 of the blank are additionally cut crosswise and scored longitudinally to providethree small parallel sections [0,

' II and I2, of which the section I2 is slit across ing box blank with a modified form of the article 55 themiddle at l3 and partially along each side from the center slit at 14,14 and [5, IS with scorings l6 and I'l across the section l2 at the end of the slits l4 and !5. When the box blank is folded, sections I0, II and I2 are located in the middle of the double front wall provided by the wall portions 2, 2. The cuts at the ends of the small sections permit them to be drawn away from the front wall and by means of the scoring formed into a rectangular hollow member located at the front and in the middle of the box. To hold this member in a rectangular shape and at the same time provide an opening in the middle thereof, the sections I8 and 19 are bent inwardly so as to brace the section H from the front wall section remaining on the box.

The receiving opening 20 thus formed provides a cradle in the top of the hollow member and permits one of the packages or articles from the box to be supported and attractively displayed thereon. As above pointed out, this not only displays the article but by displaying it in front of the box it conspicuously removes one of the articles by leaving a space in the box thus giving the effect that one of the articles is already sold.

In the pasted set up box 2| illustrated in Fi ure 5, the rectangular tubular folding support 22 is added as a separate unit to the end walls of said tubular member to provide an opening of the box so that it can be opened and held-open in the same manner as described in connection with the folding box illustrated in Figures 1 to 4 inclusive.

In Figures 6 and 7 I have illustrated a modified form of the invention in which the folding support is held in shape by a rectangular brace 23 folded intothe rectangular member to also provide a seat so that a package 24 may be inserted into the opening provided by the formation of the rectangular brace and held and supported in a vertical or tilted position in front of the box.

In Figures 8 and 9 I have shown another modified form .of display support for boxes. In this modification the front wall sections are cut and scored so as to provide a triangularly shaped hollow member 25 with an inclined top and an opening 26 in this inclined top to receive the fiattened bottom end of a collapsible tube 21. With the end supported and held in the hollow member the body of the collapsible tube may rest in the cut out portion of the front wall of the box. However, if desired, the box may be provided with an additional front wall section 28 with a notch 29 cut into the top edge thereof so that the box portion of the tube may rest in this notch for support against endwise movement at the front of the box. The notches are provided in the extensions Bil and SI on opposite ends of the wall member 2A of the blank illustrated in Figure 8.

In the forms of the invention illustrated in Figures 1 to 4 and 6 to 9 the opening of the box by means of its cover 8 and cover flange 9 releases the combined support and display device so that it can be pulled out into position to receive the package, tube, bottle or other article from the box to be displayed in front thereof.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that I have devised a new and useful combined supporting and display device for boxes which places one of the articles in a desirable position which provides selling punch and eliminates the hazard of having the article tip over and embodies the other features and advantages enumerated as desirable in the statement of the invention and the above description, and while I have, in the present instance, shown and described preferred embodiments thereof which will give in practice satisfactory results, it is to be understood that therein and have said bracing member extend between two of said collapsible sides to hold said tubular member expanded.

2. In a combined supporting and display box the combination of an outer and inner wall member connected along one edge thereof and divided by a'pair of slits extending transversely across the connecting edge of said wall member, parallel score lines in the outer and inner wall members intersecting said slits and positioned on each side of. the connecting edge, and parallel thereto, and spaced therefrom so as to divide the outer and inner wall member between said slits into connected folding sections adapted to swing away from said wall members and form a tubular supporting member in front thereof.

3. In a combined supporting and display box the combination as set forth in claim 2 including a bracing member provided in one of said folding sections and formed by a slit extending transversely between the scored limits of said folding section and by a slit in each of the score lines embracing said folding section to make said bracing member bendable inwardly of the tubular supporting member formed by said foldinglsections and provide an opening leading thereinto.

4 In a combined supporting and display device for folding boxes the combination as set forth in claim 2 including a supplementary wall member behind said double wall section extending over the opening made in the double wall by the formation of said hollow supporting member.

5. In a combined supporting and display device for folding boxes the combination as set forth in claim 2 including a supplementary wall member in back of said double Wall member, and means in the upper edge of said additional wall member to provide for the support of an article between said supporting and display device and said means.

6. In a combined supporting and display box the combination as set forth in claim 2 including a bracing member cooperating with two of said folding sections and provided by a pair of parallel slits extending transversely across two of said folding sections to make portions of said pair of folding sections between said slits fold inwardly of the hollow supporting member formed by all of said folding sections and providean opening i said supporting member.

HAROLD A. COWLES. 

